Two decades since her debut album, and six years on since her last album, Sarah Blasko's current tour sees her showcasing the newly released (although mostly recorded two years ago) 'I Just Need To Conquer This Mountain'.
After previewing some of the new songs in spare, intimate solo performances on tour supporting Boy & Bear in August, Sarah has chosen to perform the album in its entirety with a full band. As this tour winds up, there has been a recent announcement of regional shows in early 2025.Support for the Adelaide show on this occasion is Queenie (the stage name of Eloise Thetford) performing solo accompanying herself on guitar for a short set taking mainly from her 'New Moult' album.
In amongst her soulful, blues-inspired songs, occasionally her endearing vocal rasp breaks and at one point she exclaims: "Ooh! Too many ciggies."
Towards the end, her vocal ability peaks with the penultimate song, the ethereal 'Not Divine', and when her set comes to a close with 'Mama' it feels as though the preceding performance was just a warm-up for these final two songs.
Motherhood, family life and to an extent the lockdown appear to have had profound impact upon Sarah Blasko in the time between albums and her relative absence from public life and live performance in the last few years.
Now in her late 40s, her current musical output comes across as a cathartic autobiographical purge with her latest album a collection of songs that are more reflective, more personal and less veiled than ever before.
'The Way' documents her early religious upbringing, so perhaps it is intentional that Sarah comes across as giving a sermon, her performance a physical manifestation of a demanding preacher.
Interestingly, there is something possibly not quite coincidentally cult-like in the band dress code of white, Sarah wearing a jumpsuit, another surface for the lava lamp-like lighting to be projected onto throughout the set.
Anyone who has seen Sarah live before would be aware of the exaggerated pantomime, physical theatricality that she contributes to her performances and this continues with this show as she stares into space wide-eyed, and brings to mind a puppet on strings during 'Bothering Me', a near lyrical companion to the opening song.
'Goodbye!' is sung solo, with guitarist Ben Fletcher on accompanying vocals, not quite the duet the recorded version is with past tour support Ryan Downey, who was able to sing with her in Melbourne.
Alongside Ben, the rest of the band are all Blasko veterans having played with her before in various combinations, and are significant contributors to the 'I Just Need To Conquer This Mountain' album – David Hunt on keys, Laurence Pike on drums, David Symes on bass and Neil Sutherland on keys and mellotron (emulating the strings and horns).
There are further allusions to religion on 'I Can't Wait Anymore', Sarah howling "I want to live like I'm reborn". Following 'Give You Up', Sarah steps out of her stage character performance and jokes, "let that be a reminder".
After a stark piano and voice beginning, 'Emotions' veers into an audio-storm then returns to a state of the clarity before continuing to explode in waves like aftershocks, Sarah's restrained vocal hysterics maintained during the musical fireworks, and the subsequent corresponding audience response is like a dynamic reprise.
'In My Head' in contrast is pulsing pop, those members of the band standing (Sarah, Ben, David Symes) walking in place to match the measured beats. 'Dream Weaver' is a very direct, plaintive tribute addressing the loss of Sarah's friend and tour manager Greg Weaver, and during this song she reels in her at times outrageous stage performance.
Sarah's in-between song banter breaks up the sometimes intense performances and she asks, "any questions at this point," before the raw autobiography of 'To Be Alone', documenting the time around her first marriage but given the lyrical content maybe it is something she should have asked afterwards.
She describes the show as an album launch and thanks us for allowing what she calls the indulgence of playing through her new album before the final song 'Divine' and the band leave briefly.
They gradually return, having changed 'costume' to now be dressed in matching navy blue. 'All Coming Back' is played out of a chaotic opening overture, and there are subtle Easter eggs in the lyrics 'all clothed in black' and then latterly, 'what was once clothed in white bears the bruises of a burden,' which carries the theme of reflection of the newer songs and references the uniform change from light to dark between sets.
Sarah calls this second set "a walk down memory lane," a backwards selection of one song a piece from each of her previous six albums. 'Amazing Things', bolstered by Ben's crunchy guitar, is almost like it is another song altogether.
During 'Never Let Me Go', it is apparent Sarah's theatrical physicality has rubbed off on Ben as he doubles over to play the song out and then upon completion, briefly remains so like a lifeless puppet.
The evening is completed with the tribal drumming of 'I Awake', Sarah motioning towards The Gov exit (and the merch counter where she later remains meeting and greeting and signing records) as she sings the vocal refrain "I'm going out". That the audience doesn't join in on her closing refrain "I'm going out" seems a lost opportunity in these final moments.
